“We want all the brain power and experience put together. It's not that the board just oversees their investment. They're actively involved and contribute. The board is definitely not a rubber stamp."
In this episode, I talked with Juho Jalkanen, MD, PhD, CEO of Faron Pharmaceuticals — a publicly listed Finnish biotech building novel immunotherapies for blood cancers. Juho's path is unlike most you'll hear in biotech: trained vascular surgeon, PhD in molecular biology, business school graduate, and father of five. He eventually left the operating table to join his parents' company, Faron, where his mother's decades of university immunology research became the foundation for what is now one of the most exciting programs in high-risk MDS. We covered the Traumakine Phase 3 failure, the deep frustration of being completely ignored during COVID when he believed they had the right drug, and how Faron rebuilt itself from a respiratory trial company into a serious oncology player. We also got into the board structure he's deliberately built to be unlike most you'll see, and what it really takes to scale a company when the pharma ecosystem around you is still finding its feet.
We wrapped things up with a quick round of mystery questions Juho hadn't seen coming. Outside of running a listed biotech and raising five kids, he recharges the Finnish way — out in nature with his family.
Here's What You're In For
- Why a vascular surgeon walked away from the operating table to run a biotech
- The family origin story behind Clever-1 and Faron Pharmaceuticals
- How a Phase 3 failure set the stage for what came next
- The COVID frustration: having the right drug and nobody willing to listen
- What Clever-1 is, why it matters, and why the biology can't be shortcut
- The MDS data turning heads at ASCO, ESMO, and ASH — and what comes next
- What a CEO actually thinks about when moving from early to the pivotal stage
- The CMC blind spot that catches most biotechs off guard
- How Juho built a board that mirrors the C-suite — and why that logic matters
- Why CMOs and CSOs can get onto boards, but have to start in the right place
Timestamps
01:49 – Origins of Clever-1 and the family story behind Faron Pharmaceuticals
05:35 – Career highpoint: caring for a dying father-in-law and what it means to fight cancer
06:50 – Career lowpoint: Traumakine Phase 3 failure and two years of being ignored during COVID
12:53 – Faron's elevator pitch: what the company does and why it exists
14:42 – Bexmarilimab (BEX) and why macrophages are the hidden driver of treatment resistance
16:30 – The Phase 1/2 results: 64% response rate and 14.5-month survival in high-risk MDS
19:36 – Next 12–18 months: €40M raised, Phase 2b underway, investigator-led trials in sarcoma and beyond
23:12 – What CEOs have to think about at late stage: CMC, fundraising, and clinical navigation
27:42 – Mirroring the C-suite and deliberately avoiding the VC-heavy default
34:33 – Quick-fire questions: books, interferon biology, and what keeps him sane in Finland
Full episode here:
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wFHUNurfllRKVdu8Dh8zL?si=b743974274da45e9
- Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/juho-jalkanen-ceo-at-faron-pharmaceuticals-on-from/id1736051162?i=1000781902247
About Juho
Dr. Juho Jalkanen is the CEO of Faron Pharmaceuticals, a publicly listed clinical-stage Finnish biotech developing novel immunotherapies for blood cancers, with a lead asset, bexmarilimab, targeting Clever-1 on immunosuppressive macrophages. He holds an MD (vascular surgery), a PhD in molecular biology, and a business school degree — and transitioned from active surgical practice into leading Faron, a company built on his mother's immunology research and spun out by his father from the University of Turku. His work sits at the intersection of deep biology and late-stage oncology drug development. Outside of leading a publicly listed company and raising five kids, Juho recharges in the Finnish outdoors — in nature with his family.
Connect with Juho:
About Faron
Faron Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Turku, Finland, focused on cancer immunotherapy via a novel macrophage-targeting mechanism. The company is dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market and the Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Finland. It was founded by Professor Markku Jalkanen and Professor Sirpa Jalkanen — both immunologists at the University of Turku — based on the academic discovery of the Clever-1 receptor.
The science — bexmarilimab and Clever-1: Bexmarilimab is a wholly owned, humanised anti-Clever-1 monoclonal antibody. Clever-1 (also known as Stabilin-1) is an immunosuppressive receptor expressed on tumour-associated macrophages. In the tumour microenvironment, M2-polarised macrophages expressing Clever-1 actively suppress the immune response, promoting tumour growth and enabling cancer to evade immune surveillance.
- Faron Pharmaceuticals: https://faron.com/
- Pipeline: https://faron.com/faron-pipeline/
About Charles
My name is Charles Spence and I lead Discera. After many years working in the life-science recruitment world, I decided to work for myself. Before doing recruitment I graduated with a biomedical degree, have worked in hospitals (including translation work in Seoul, South Korea), and also spent a year working in diabetes research in Stockholm. After doing research and travel, a career in business and science felt the most appropriate.
In 2023, I decided to launch my firm - Discera Search. A firm committed to solving the biggest talent needs of early clinical stage SME biotechs on the East Coast and DACH.
Connect with me:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-spence-clinical/
- Website: https://www.discera-search.com/
Opinions and comments expressed by the guest do not represent the company and are fully their own.
